​What is Facebook Live? A new feature introduced in December, Facebook Live allows you to broadcast live video using your cell phone camera. As Facebook is heavily promoting this new feature, your Facebook Live videos will be ranked higher than your other posts. Your followers will receive a pop up notification each time you start a live broadcast making this an effective tool to share breaking news and stay top of mind with your core social media constituents. Even if your followers can't join you live, they have the ability to watch a recording of your broadcast whenever it is convenient for them.

How Does Facebook Live Work? Presently, Facebook Live is a feature that is available through your personal timeline and also can be accessed by verified organizations. Learn more about Facebook’s verification process here.

To start a live broadcast from your personal timeline:

1. Log into the Facebook using your smartphone. 2. From either you news feed or timeline, tap the icon that looks like a square with a pencil inside. 3. Tap the icon that features the outline of a person with two surrounding rings. 4. Write an enticing description for your broadcast. 5. Tap Go Live to begin your broadcast. When you want to end your broadcast, tap Finish.

During your broadcast, you'll see the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are watching and a real-time stream of comments. Your broadcast should last no longer than 30 minutes. When you end your broadcast, it'll stay on your timeline like any other video.

Note: You can block viewers during a live broadcast by tapping the profile picture next to a viewer's comment and then tapping block. It is advised that you use this feature in accordance with your organization’s social media policies. You can also unblock someone that you've previously blocked.

Best Practices for Using Facebook LiveFacebook recommends the following tips to ensure a successful broadcast:

Notify your followers ahead of time when you are going to broadcast.

Ask your viewers to subscribe to receive notifications when you go live.

Write a compelling description before going live to help your followers understand what your broadcast is about.

Go live when you have a strong connection. Check the app to make sure you have a strong signal before going live. If your signal is weak, the “Go Live” button will be grayed out. Try to find a location where you’re on a Wi-Fi or have at last a 4G connection.

Say hello to your fans by name and respond to their comments and questions during your live video presentation. Make your broadcast as interactive as possible.

If you lose your connection while filming live, find a place with a better signal and your app will automatically try to re-connect. If you are unable to re-connect, your existing broadcast will still be saved to your Facebook page. You will then need to determine if it makes sense to delete the broadcast and simply start over.

Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more fans. The longer you broadcast, the more likely your followers are to discover and share your video with their Facebook friends thus further widening your audience reach. It is recommended that you go live for at least five minutes. Some public figures broadcast for over an hour. It is best to start slow and build your presentation capacity.

Keep your followers engaged by going live often or on a regular set schedule.

Measuring the Success of Your Facebook Videos Visit the videos section of your Page Insights to discover the number of times your videos were viewed in addition to the number of times your audience viewed your videos for 10 seconds or more. Insights will also rank your top videos and provides comprehensive comparison analysis including statistics for:Organic vs. PaidAuto-played vs. Click-to-playUnique vs. RepeatFacebook advises, “To see how an individual video performed in a post, scroll down to Top Videos and click a video. From here, you can see metrics like minutes viewed and average percent completion, along with details like whether people viewed it with their sound on or off.”Note: Page-level metrics about video views are only available for videos viewed May 2015 or later.It is also important to keep track of the number of times your videos were shared along with the number and tone of the comments each video generates.Help Desk For additional support on developing your digital video strategy, please call 800.516.7713 to schedule a consultation.​